


Moth Billy Part II: The Sun Will Rise

by dead-night-harringrove (deliriousLycan)



Series: Moth Billy [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 07:50:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15967934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliriousLycan/pseuds/dead-night-harringrove
Summary: PROMPT: Also would Max and the kids soon discover he’s part moth?





	Moth Billy Part II: The Sun Will Rise

It’s been three months since Steve and Billy had called a truce in a meadow by the train tracks. Three whole months since Steve had caught Billy with a dislocated wing and, instead of killing him with that bat he’d had or cashing him in as a science prize, had offered his home and friendship. 

It was a week after that encounter that Billy had organized and executed a plot to apologize to all of the children en masse for almost running them over, and for what he’d done at the Byers’ home, a little over a year before. 

Now, he spends most of his days chartering the kids around when Steve isn’t available to do so. The added perks of loud music and a cool ride got him in their favor much quicker than he expected, but they still don’t quite  _ trust  _ him.

When he’s not moving kids to and fro, he’s avoiding his house, lounging around Steve’s wearing only a pair of sweatpants he stole out of Steve’s winter drawer. Since it’s the first summer after graduation, he spends all the days here he can manage. He also only shaves his ‘fluff’, as Steve calls it, when he’s going back to the house where Neil could potentially catch him. 

After about two days, it’s already grown in thick, and wearing a shirt is just unacceptable. 

Today is Steve’s day off, which Billy had forgotten about until Steve just didn’t go in to work earlier. His day off is when the kids always walk in uninvited, which Billy has also managed to forget. He remembers,  _ very clearly,  _ when Steve is in the bathroom upstairs and the door swings open and he hears a scream of “ _ Holy shit!” _

Billy’s pretty sure it’s Dustin who screams. The other kids immediately follow suit in their own freak outs, but he isn’t listening to what they’re saying. His heart starts pounding in his chest and he’s frozen, staring at them dumbly with wide, dilated eyes. Billy feels hot tears sliding down his cheeks and he didn’t even realize he’d  _ started  _ crying until then. It’s horrible, and he feels his anger rising but tries to fight it, crush it, but being angry is so much easier than being afraid and right now fear is outweighing everything else. 

Steve finding out was one thing. A group of hyperactive children who never shut up and probably still  _ hate  _ him is different situation. 

He’s running. Slamming the back door open and sprinting out, his wings are catching on air before he even realizes he’s leaving the ground. Once he’s high enough, he relies on gliding to get as far away as fast as he can. 

The view would be beautiful if only he could enjoy it.

* * *

 

When Steve comes running down the stairs, almost falling down the last few, it’s Max, El, and Will who recover the fastest and tell him what happened. Steve curses, and then fixes a glare on Dustin, who’s still ranting about how Billy’s been infected by an Upside Down monster, and what a freak. Dustin is reasonably subdued by the look Steve shoots him, and then they’re all trying to organize a plan of action while Steve explains what he knows about Billy’s…moth side. 

It’s within an hour they’re all out and walking the woods, shouting Billy’s name as they search for him. 

It’s another two hours later when they finally find him. After checking everywhere else, Steve directs them to the clearing where he and Billy had first become friends. Billy’s sitting there in a heap in the center of the meadow, tucked into the tall grasses and wildflowers, hiding with his wings curled protectively around him. If Steve wasn’t looking for him, he might have overlooked him entirely. He’d definitely found himself a good spot. 

The kids approach hesitantly behind Steve as he walks closer, holding their tongues as they register the shuddering movements and hushed but sharp breaths beneath the wings. Honestly, Max is the only one who actually believes Billy  _ can  _ cry. 

“Billy?” she asks, voice soft as she walks up beside Steve from where he’s crouching in front of her stepbrother. Steve gently pushes the wings aside with practiced ease, taking Billy’s hands in his and whispering comforts as he looks up at Max. She gasps lightly, taken slightly with his deep, wide eyes and pupils that almost engulf his irises. Max has never seen him like this, but for reasons she can’t explain, it feels right. It’s like there was a gap in her perception of him, not just emotionally and physically, but spiritually. She wonders what he truly is, yet can’t find any reason to question it. He’s something special, though. 

His eyes search hers for something, and whatever it is he’s looking for he must have found-- or not found, she supposes. Billy relaxes somewhat, hands gripping onto Steve’s.

Looking between them, how intrinsically they move towards each other and the fact that Billy was just at Steve’s house without any cares until she and the rest of the Party had walked in… she wonders if they realize they love each other. 

Billy drops his wings and the Party gathers around in a loose semi-circle, eyes full of questions. 

“I didn’t think fairies were assholes,” Lucas says.

Immediately he regrets it, when Billy’s antennae lay flat down against his head and his wings hitch back up, coming in close around him. Lucas doesn’t add that he didn’t realize Billy was so sensitive, either, or pry about why he’s like this, because he’s seen how confident El is until someone asks her about her number, or catches her using her powers. Suddenly Lucas realizes that it’s not _sensitivity._ Billy is _terrified._ Of them. A handful of kids. Oh, how the tables have turned. With a quick glance at the others, he sees they’re realizing it as well. 

Lucas fixes El with a look, and when she meets his gaze she catches on with ease. Moving closer to be right beside Steve and Max, she holds out her arm and shows Billy her tattoo. Billy frowns at it, looking up at her curiously. 

“011? What does that mean?” he asks.

She smiles wryly and points to herself. “Me. I’m Eleven. My friends, they won’t tell anyone. Promise. Watch…” she trails off, and turning to the side she holds her hand out towards the woodline. With a mighty groan, one of the younger trees begins to bend and creak towards her, until it falls with a crash. El groans as she puts in more effort to push it back up, the earth packing in around the roots as it resettles. Turning back to Billy, she wipes away blood  from her nose with the back of her short sleeve. He’s staring at her with awe, and she smiles. 

“See? They know my secret and didn’t tell. I used to be a monster. I’m not anymore. They didn’t tell anyone I was a monster, either. You’re safe with us. Jim and Joyce and Jonathan and Nancy, too. You can tell them, and you’ll be safe. I promise,” she says. Billy finds he believes her, and nods. Any tension he’d had has faded now, and he’s at ease when the Party starts firing off questions one right after the other. 

“Do you know what type of moth you are?” Will asks. 

Billy nods again. “I’ve looked into it and I’m pretty, pretty sure I’m a white-ringed Atlas Moth. It’s the closest match, at the very least,” he says, and Will beams. Billy smiles back, wings fluttering amiably. 

A brief, comfortable silence falls over them for a moment before Dustin lets out a cheer. It’s also a curse though, so it’s hard to tell the feeling behind it. He follows it shortly after with the  _ cause  _ of his outburst. “You  _ flew!  _ You flew here! With your wings! You can fly! That’s awesome! Why do you use your car so much? Why not just fly?”

Billy stares at him blankly for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, let me just fly over to the supermarket. That’ll work real good, especially when I give Mrs. Wicker a heart attack for being a winged demon descending upon them. I kind of like life, as shitty as it is. Also, I can’t give you brats rides everywhere when your babysitter is unavailable if I fly everywhere. I’m part moth, not part airplane. I get three feet off the ground and almost crash.”

It isn’t that funny, but the kids all laugh to their heart's content regardless. They spend a little while longer there, talking and bonding, and Billy? Billy feels a lot lighter having people who aren’t trying to hunt him down or kill him. He’s not used to having people care about him, but he’s starting to like the feeling. He just hopes he doesn’t let them down, and he’s going to try his hardest not to.

* * *

 

When Steve, Billy, and the kids finally get back to Steve’s house, night is falling. The kids all crash in the living room, digging around in closest that they’re obviously familiar with and setting up a huge blanket and sofa cushion pallet on the floor for them to all sleep on. They set up the VCR player to watch movies, and Steve bids them goodnight as he walks up the stairs. Billy usually sleeps on the sofa, but seeing as the kids have claimed the living room, he eventually follows Steve up the stairs. Steve seems surprised when he sees Billy leaning against his door frame, and Billy feels his face heat up as he looks down at the floor. 

“Can I, uh, sleep in here with you? I usually sleep on the sofa, and I know you said your family keeps all of your unorganized junk in the guest room… I mean, I can go home if that’s too awkward or weird for you but I just--” he’s cut off by Steve’s hands finding his again. He looks up at Steve’s face, and doesn’t find any apprehension or disgust there. Only a soft smile and understanding eyes. 

“You can absolutely stay in here, Billy. You know, I usually ask people out before I get them in bed with me, though. Looks like you get the first class pass,” he smirks.

Billy feels like his legs are about to give out as he stares at Steve in absolute, unmasked shock. Steve seems slightly taken aback for a moment, as if he didn’t expect his joke to be taken seriously, but it’s again erased by a soft look. Billy was expecting disgust. He was expecting any reaction other than just a gentle acceptance when he’d floundered over Steve’s words.

Steve tugs him towards the bed, letting go of his hand just long enough to strip down to his boxers and climb into bed. Billy crawls in behind him, laying down on his stomach and letting his wings fall across the bed like a blanket. Steve gently touches the one across him with the tips of his fingers, and Billy shivers. He hears Steve laugh softly beside him and takes a risk to curl closer to him, as close as he can get. Steve’s arm comes up around him to play with his hair, and they both fall asleep twined together.

* * *

Downstairs, Max smiles at Lucas after explaining what she’d sensed between Billy and Steve. He looks at the staircase, then back at her, with a soft smile. Then he smirks. “Ten bucks says they’re already doing the gross shit.”

Max cackles. Steve and Billy are in for one hell of a ride.


End file.
